Clause
by Dread Pirate Rinja
Summary: There's a first time for everything. Pre-series timeline. Implied RxC.


_Warnings: very mild spoilers, mild language, mild violence with some blood.  
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_Disclaimer: Chrno Crusade belongs to Daisuke Moriyama and all licenses affiliated with the series. Used without permission for no profit._

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**Clause**  
_(reposted)_

"Ah, geez… I hate it when we get the low-level boring jobs. I'm not getting anywhere at this rate!"

Chrno regarded the scene through amused crimson as his impatient blonde contractor stomped around the dusty room, sending displaced dirt particles flying with each plod. This girl definitely didn't know the meaning of the word patience, but in his own understanding of said concept, he was gentle with his responses. He couldn't hide the slight smile that crossed his face while Rosette paced, trying to entertain herself – or just fuming to pass the time – while they waited for someone to come pick up the stack of papers they'd brought for delivery.

"You just joined the Magdalene Order a month ago," he quietly reminded her, shifting the heavy box-shaped pack from one shoulder to the other. "You can't expect any high-level missions in such a short amount of time."

"You're not helping, Chrno."

Rosette had been assigned yet another delivery job and had been waiting at the pick-up point for the better part of five minutes. Of course, those five minutes seemed like an eternity to the fidgety girl – she loved action, and delivery jobs didn't fit the description. Not at all.

"He's only five minutes late for the pick-up. It's not like we have anything better to do after this at the moment."

Rosette stopped pacing and shot a withering glare at Chrno, who cowered. "Of course I have better things to do, like _find Joshua_," she growled in reply. "'Sides, you're used to waiting, since you're like, what, a million years old?"

Chrno shrugged. "Something like that," he replied with a wry grin. "But you could at least wait another five minutes before you go on a tirade to Sister Kate over the phone."

Her frustrated groan echoed off the cobwebbed walls as she offered Chrno a pleading glance. _She's young, _Chrno had to remind himself. _Sometimes I forget about her age – of course she'd be impatient._

Another five minutes of bored pacing trudged by, and no sign of the contact. As Rosette picked up the pace, tension radiating off her in waves strong enough for Chrno to sense, the demon had a creeping sense of something wrong tugging at his mind. Years of experience told him to never ignore that intuition of danger, but this time he felt he should at least keep silent about it – for Rosette's sake, if nothing else.

Something felt… off.

And that something was approaching. Was it the person they were supposed to deliver the papers to?

Probably not – the presence was moving too slowly, as if creeping. The contact would have no premonitions about meeting them there for a boring 327-page report on Magdalene's current activities. Hardly exciting reading material.

His instinct told him it was another demon. He agreed. And it knew they were there, otherwise it wouldn't be headed towards them.

"Rosette…" he began, hoping to warn her of the impending danger without frightening her. "Rosette, I don't think he's coming."

The girl whipped around to face him, a look between surprise and frustration tensing her countenance. "I thought you said he'd be here soon," she tested.

"I believe I did, but now I think he stood us up," Chrno replied carefully. "Why don't we go back to the train station and—"

She glared again, cutting him off. "You're hiding something," she accused.

Chrno gulped and cowered slightly. He didn't like the look in her eyes – _that look_ usually led to violence from her. Perhaps the distraction was just what he needed, but he still couldn't answer her accusation easily.

"I… I'll tell you on the way out."

Uncertainty in her gaze, he looked away and grabbed her hand, leading her away from the encroaching presence and towards another way out. He hoped she wouldn't notice the change in route, ask him questions he wasn't willing to answer. She wasn't ready to face a demon yet; she'd barely finished her field training and had no experience in a real battle yet. This wasn't the time – nor the place – for a beginner's skirmish.

"Chrno… isn't the other way the fastest way out?"

"Ah—" _Damn her perception! _He plastered on a false smile and laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head with his free hand. "You know what they say – it's bad luck to go back out the same way you came in." Another nervous laugh. Rosette looked skeptical.

"Chrno…"

No way out of this one – she could tell by now. "I'm sorry, Rosette… I-I didn't want you to be frightened, but…"

Rosette scowled, halting their escape with a tug on Chrno's grip. "I knew you were hiding something. There's something you don't want me to see coming from the other direction, isn't there?"

"Rosette, you're not ready to face it yet. Trust me."

She huffed, crossing her arms in a pout. "I finished my training, you know. I'm perfectly capable of handling whatever comes our way."

"Rosette—" She started back towards the rendezvous room when Chrno grabbed her hand. "You haven't had any battle experience yet!"

"There's a first time for everything! Besides, this will be experience, won't it?" She cast him a cocky wink and yanked her holy-armed gun from its holster as she bolted the other direction.

"Rosette, wait! I don't think this is the kind of demon you want your first battle to—"

His sentence was drowned out by the loud implosion of the wall closest to Rosette, who threw up her arms to block her face from debris with a yelp. Chrno lost most of his visibility in the dust cloud, but didn't miss the large silhouette and red-glowing eyes of the pursuing demon hovering in the new hole. Swearing, he rushed into the cloud.

"Rosette!"

Coughing. Using the quiet noise as a beacon, he found his way to his contractor.

"What _is_ that?" she managed between coughs. "I thought I was dead!"

Chrno breathed a sigh of relief. _She's alright. _"I told you we needed to get out of here, which we'll do right now before he has a chance to come at us again!"

He grabbed her hand and hauled her to her feet, fully expecting to pull her out the back way with him. She resisted again, teeth clenched, a determined gleam in her azure eyes.

"Let me try again. Sister Kate won't ever acknowledge me if I don't take him down."

_Ah, this is bad, this is bad!_ His mind screamed in protest.

Rosette aimed her gun, waiting for a clear shot before firing, as she'd been trained. The dust cleared… and she froze. Wide-eyed. She hadn't expected to be scared of what she saw.

The demon looked like it had once been human. Or animal – it was always hard to tell with this kind. At any rate, it was huge, had bloodstained fangs, wielded a rusty katana, and looked hungry for another meal.

"Kukuku… Two children, eh? Must have wandered off into the wrong place to play," the demon taunted.

Rosette didn't move.

"Why don't we play a new game, like hide and seek?"

"Where is the man that was supposed to meet us here?" Chrno asked directly, keeping his voice low.

The demon's attention shifted from Rosette to the young-looking Sinner before him. "Ah, you mean that guy I had for breakfast? I think he's in hell by now."

"You bastard…"

"This girl would make a nice chaser. Wait your turn, dessert."

The demon charged. Chrno wasn't about to let him touch her – with a muffled curse and all the speed he could muster in his current form, he sprung at Rosette, knocking her to the ground. Instantly, he drew his sword and whirled on the demon as something hit his gut and stayed there. Before he assessed the damage, he made sure to take a hard, desperate swing in the demon's direction. The demon howled and recoiled, jerking his claws with him. Chrno cried out.

_Pain… oh God, that really hurt._

The world spun dangerously, and his stomach clenched uncomfortably as he dropped to his knees, clutching his middle. Warm and sticky – blood.

"_Chrno!_"

Black spots dotted his vision as he fell the rest of the way forward. _Rosette… I'm sorry…_and his vision faded.

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_"Chrno? Chrno, please…"_

He slowly drifted back, back to her soft voice, her tears, and to pain. He was on his back now. It hurt to breathe around the coppery taste in his mouth and throat. Blood. His blood, he hoped – not Rosette's.

"Please, wake up! I-I'm so sorry, Chrno!"

Coughing, he hesitantly allowed his eyelids to slide open, Rosette's tear-streaked features taking all too long to come into focus above his face. Took too long to realize that she was holding his hand in a painfully tight grip, and that the protector was wet with tears.

"R-Rosette…?"

Her eyes widened in shock and relief as she noticed he was awake. "Chrno!" she wailed, dropping his hand in favor for a hug. The world went white. "I-I was so scared!"

"Ah… that hurts, Rosette…" he gasped. _Damn, he really nailed me._

She sat up, looking into his eyes with concern. Realization dawned just before she quickly started to pull at his jacket front, trying to pull his white shirt aside to find the source of the blood that coated his outfit. Her gentle touch hurt, but he wouldn't tell her that.

"Oh, Chrno…" she breathed, tears filling her eyes again.

"It's a-alright," he whispered. "I'll be f-fine. Where's the demon?" Tried to sit up, failed miserably with a groan.

"Don't move!" exclaimed Rosette. "I… After you collapsed, I shot him. Three times… he disappeared."

"Good," Chrno mumbled. "I-I'm proud of you… your first kill…" He hissed, wincing. Apparently, talking hurt at least as much as breathing did.

"Here, I'll release the seal, and… and you'll heal really fast, right?"

"N-No, don't…"

"Come on, I've never released the seal before anyway – it's not like I'm going to die from letting you heal, right?"

"Rosette—" he coughed, feeling blood leak from his mouth down his chin. The world faded for a moment, and then came roaring back to Rosette's pleading. She'd pressed something against his stomach to staunch the bleeding, but the pressure was agonizing.

"I-I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely.

"You're not allowed to die on me!" she hissed. "I don't want to look for my brother by myself, and you're _not _going to leave me to find him alone!"

Chrno grimaced. She was right – he was losing blood too fast, even for a demon. Two Rosettes peered into his bleary eyes, holding up the seal with two hands. He didn't protest, even though every fiber of his instinct told him to fight the decision. His eyes closed.

The seal snapped outward, the watch glowed and whirred, and he felt strength pour into him as the wound healed over. He let himself get pulled into the astral flow, drifting in the warmth when he heard screaming.

_Rosette!_

Chrno snapped back to reality, sitting up abruptly as the seal snapped shut. Rosette was curled into the fetal position next to him, shaking, covered with sweat.

"Rosette!" he cried, placing a hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Rosette!"

She snorted, offering him a weak grin as she slowly sat up. "Heh…hee… So that's what it feels like to have your soul drained, huh?"

Chrno grimaced, closing his eyes in angry frustration.

"A-Are your wounds healed?" He nodded. "Good, since I'm not doing that again for a long time."

He looked away, staring at the floor. "I-I'm sorry," he repeated shakily. "I-I—"

She cut him off by grabbing his hands, urging him to look at her. "It's alright, Chrno – it's my fault, really… If I hadn't… and you…" A shocked Chrno suddenly found himself in a tight embrace. "I didn't want you to die."

He relaxed, placing a hand on her back and returning the gesture. "Thank you," he whispered into her hair.

Sirens blaring outside jerked the two companions' heads up. Someone had heard the racket and called it in, apparently, but that wasn't the current issue at hand. As Chrno and Rosette observed the vast amount of debris and destruction from their small battle, they simultaneously gulped.

"Sister Kate isn't going to like it…" Chrno said uneasily.

"Oh man, how am I going to explain _this_?" Rosette wailed.

And unfortunately for Rosette, this wouldn't be the last explanation in her career.

Chrno couldn't help the small smile as Rosette mourned over the building's destruction. This was going to be an interesting experience.

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_.owari._

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_In case it isn't apparent, this takes place during that large time gap between the time Aion takes Joshua and when the series starts. I wrote this while I was on a major Chrno high after finishing the series, and I thought that it'd be fun to pursue a story where Rosette has to use the contract to save Chrno's life for the first time. I also was itchy to write some plain ol' action, as it's my favorite genre to work with. :3 This is the result. I know it still has flaws, but I'm hoping to improve those with further revisions over time._

_I must thank Varethane for pointing out a POV switch booboo on the original version; it has since been fixed and is now present in this version. I'd also like to thank (or blame) piscesanela007 for getting me hooked on Chrno. XD She more than makes up for it by beta reading my Chrno fanfiction and just plain encouraging me on a daily basis. -luff-  
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_Comments are still much appreciated. :D_


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